Rico Bell ( Eric Bellis) is a
UK and
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
based artist and musician best known for his work as a member of the British
punk rock band
the Mekons
The Mekons are a British band formed in the late 1970s as an art collective. They are one of the longest-running and most prolific of the first-wave British punk rock bands.
The band's style has evolved over time to incorporate aspects of ...
which he joined in 1983. A singer and multi-instrumentalist with the Mekons, Bell has also released three well-received solo recordings with the Chicago-based alternative country label,
Bloodshot Records
Bloodshot Records is an independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois, which specializes in alternative country.
History
Bloodshot Records was founded in 1994 by Nan Warshaw, Rob Miller, and Eric Babcock, who knew each other from jobs i ...
: ''The Return of Rico Bell'' (1995), ''Dark Side of the Mersey'' (1999) and ''Been a Long Time'' (2002).
Career
Along with three other members of the Mekons (Kevin Lycett,
Jon Langford
Jonathan Denis Langford (born 11 October 1957) is a Welsh musician and artist based in Chicago, Illinois, United States.
Langford is a founder member of the punk band The Mekons, the post-punk group The Three Johns, and the alternative count ...
and
Tom Greenhalgh
Thomas Charles Greenhalgh is a multimedia artist and singer-songwriter best known for his work with the Mekons.
Education
He attended Sevenoaks School in Kent with future members of the Gang of Four (Andy Gill and Jon King) and the Mekons (Ke ...
), Bell has created and exhibited art in the U.K. and U.S. as the collective Mekons for such projects as ''Mekons United'' (1996), ''OOOH!'' (2001), ''Art-Tube 01'' (2001), and ''Hello Cruel World'' (2002). In addition, he performed with the rest of the band in
Vito Acconci
Vito Acconci (, ; January 24, 1940 – April 27, 2017) was an influential American performance, video and installation artist, whose diverse practice eventually included sculpture, architectural design, and landscape design. His foundational p ...
’s ''Theater Project for a Rock Band'' as part of the
Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival in 1995 and collaborated with
Kathy Acker
Kathy Acker (April 18, 1947 isputed– November 30, 1997) was an American experimental novelist, playwright, essayist, and postmodernist writer, known for her idiosyncratic and transgressive writing that dealt with themes such as childhood trau ...
on her lesbian pirate operetta ''Pussy, King of the Pirates'' at the
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago is a contemporary art museum near Water Tower Place in downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The museum, which was established in 1967, is one of the world's largest contemporar ...
, in 1997,a production for which he also created and constructed the stage design and in which the characters were performed by the Mekons.
A graduate of the
Wallasey School of Arts and Crafts near
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
, Bell’s own art has evolved stylistically over the years but remains primarily focused upon figurative painting. Much of his work has been influenced by British and American
folk art
Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative. The makers of folk art are typically tr ...
of the 18th and 19th centuries and he has developed a variety of techniques to "age" the paintings, making the portraits appear old like the original naive paintings appear today. His themes are often rooted in nature, work and community and have featured the rural milieus of his native England, while much of his recent work features imagery from his adopted home of
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
and the American West and portray subjects such as farm workers, cattle herders and farm animals. His work has been exhibited in galleries and museums in the U.S. and U.K. including the
Royal Academy in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
and he has contributed illustrations to a number of publications including ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' magazine.
While working on his painting and music after art school, Bell lived an itinerant life working on farms and riding, raising, and selling horses and, later, enjoyed a successful career as a museum and gallery exhibition designer in England. In the 1970s he was a regular performer at The Lamp Light in
Wallasey, a club catering to the contemporary folk scene. Another regular performer there was a young musician from nearby
Birkenhead
Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...
named Declan MacManus who later found fame as
Elvis Costello.
Like Costello and many other British musicians at the time, Bell’s music changed as the 1970s progressed and the punk revolution exploded. After moving to
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
and forming a punk/
new wave band, recording vocals for a solo album by
Martin Barre
Martin Lancelot Barre (; born 17 November 1946) is an English guitarist best known for his longtime role as lead guitarist of British rock band Jethro Tull, with whom he recorded and toured from 1968 until the band's initial dissolution in 201 ...
of
Jethro Tull and doing some session singing in London, Bell toured with the Leeds-based Goth band,
The March Violets
The March Violets are an English post-punk/gothic rock band formed in 1981 in Leeds, incorporating singers of both sexes, drum machine rhythms and echo-laden electric guitar, much in the style of fellow Leeds band the Sisters of Mercy. Seven ...
, in the early 1980s.
In 1983, Bell began singing and playing accordion with the Mekons and was on the band’s first U.S. tour in 1986 but stopped touring regularly with the band soon afterward. In 1995 he was back on the road and his contributions are found on every Mekons release since 1984 except ''Retreat from Memphis'' (1994). In addition, his music and vocals can be found on a number of compilation releases from Bloodshot Records.
References
External links
Bloodshot Records: Eric "Rico" Bell''Rolling Stone'' Photos: The MekonsThe Mekons' Press SiteArtworkSalon.com article: "No Pistols, No Who, No Rolling Stones"''Rolling Stone'' Magazine: "Mekons Turn Twenty-Five"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Rico
Musicians from Leeds
Living people
Bloodshot Records artists
English accordionists
The Mekons members
21st-century accordionists
Year of birth missing (living people)